CIA Given Green Light To Expand Operations In Pakistan

Baitullah Mehsud, right, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, in 2005. He was killed by a remotely piloted drone aircraft. Dawn Newspaper, via Reuters

C.I.A. to Expand Use of Drones in Pakistan -- Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago in Pakistan, Central Intelligence Agency sharpshooters killed eight people suspected of being militants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and wounded two others in a compound that was said to be used for terrorist training.

Then, the job in North Waziristan done, the C.I.A. officers could head home from the agency’s Langley, Va., headquarters, facing only the hazards of the area’s famously snarled suburban traffic.

Read more ....

Update: What If Predator Drones Work? -- The Atlantic

My Comment: These operations are probably going to be done in coordination with the Afghan surge. The ultimate goal will be to accomplish the following ....

By increasing covert pressure on Al Qaeda and its allies in Pakistan, while ground forces push back the Taliban’s advances in Afghanistan, American officials hope to eliminate any haven for militants in the region.

Let us hope that they will succeed.